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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23612374">Dusky Afterglow</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nellancholy/pseuds/Nellancholy'>Nellancholy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Deus Ex Machina, Gen, Gore, Horror, Surreal, i guess</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 16:14:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,063</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23612374</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nellancholy/pseuds/Nellancholy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What if things happened differently the night Afterglow was trapped in school?</p><p>An alternate ending to the 6th Afterglow event.</p><p>(It ends well for them,I promise.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>(the shippy stuff is just a little bit at the end), Aoba Moca/Imai Lisa, Hazawa Tsugumi/Hikawa Sayo, Minato Yukina/Mitake Ran</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>42</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Dusky Afterglow</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Inspired by the original art for Hey-day Capriccio:</p><p> </p><p>  </p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Ne, Tomochin…” Moca piped up as the members of Afterglow looked around the darkened gymnasium for a way out. “…I’ve been feeling a bit weird for a while. Like my feet are barely touching the ground…”</p><p>Himari turned around, glancing at Moca. “Y-yeah, I kind of feel like that too. It’s like when you’re feeling heavy after a day of shopping but like…the opposite…” As her eyes focused on Moca in the darkness, she let out a shriek, bringing the other three running. “Moca…what the <em>hell</em> happened to you?”</p><p>“...?” Moca looked down at herself. “…I don’t know…I do feel kinda soft, though. Hey…” She glared back at Himari. “What happened to <em>you</em>? You’re all wooshy and pale.”</p><p>Himari looked at herself, trying to grab her own body. Only to find a white sheet covering herself. She pressed on where her belly would be, and…nothing. No. That couldn’t be possible. She wasn’t wearing a sheet. She…was the sheet? “…” Himari looked back at Moca. She too had turned into some kind of pale, cotton apparition, almost like a teruterubozu hanging in the air. Mint green eyes were painted on the sheet that was Moca, above an opening where a long pink tongue lolled out. She screamed again.</p><p>“Ah, Himari-chan!” Tsugumi dashed towards her, her arms wrapping around her to calm her down. “There’s clearly some kind of explanation for this, we can-” Her body billowed against Himari’s. She screamed.</p><p>“Guys, calm down! Something strange is going on, and we-” Tomoe rested her hands on Himari and Tsugumi’s heads. She looked down on herself. She sighed. “-and we need to figure out what it is so we can get out.”</p><p>Ran didn’t even bother checking. “Well, er. Maybe some sheets fell on us somewhere, and-”</p><p>Himari’s voice rose into a wail. “They’re not <em>SHEETS, RAN!</em>”</p><p>Tomoe nonchalantly lifted the edge of her new body up towards Ran. “They’re not sheets, Ran. They’re…us? I guess?” The face drawn in red ink with a stitched-up mouth briefly made a quizzical expression. “Maybe, um…”</p><p>“Maybe we’re asleep and this is a dream?” Tsugu, as always, tried to be helpful.</p><p>Ran frowned. “Then we better wake up. I’m not going to sleep here on the dusty floors.” That second part invited another loud sob from Himari.</p><p>“Well…” Moca’s “eyes” narrowed into a mischievous expression, her tongue waggling. “There’s only one thing that floats around at night and looks like a sheet…”</p><p>Her four friends turned to her.</p><p>“Moca, don’t you dare.”</p><p>“Moca…”</p><p>“Moca, do you mean…”</p><p>“We’re <strong>DEAAAAAAAAAAAAD!</strong>” Himari howled.</p><p>“...She said it, not me.” Moca shrugged.</p>
<hr/><p>“Well, if we’re dea- disembodied, our bodies should be around here somewhere, right? If we’re…like this, maybe we can just…get back in?” Tomoe tried to look thoughtful, which was difficult when one’s face was drawn on with marker.</p><p>“Y-you’re right…” Himari sniffed, an impressive feat for someone presently without lungs or a nose. “Tomoe…” Holding on to hope, she leaned on Tomoe. “Let’s…let’s go look?”</p><p>“Yep!” Tsugumi nodded vigorously. “Before Moca brought that up, the last thing I remember hearing was…something rolling?” She turned to face the far end of the gym, a large pile of…something barely visible in the darkness. “Maybe we could start there?”</p><p>“...Let’s not waste any time.” Ran nodded gently. Floating to the other end of the gym took far less time than running across it during physical evaluations. Standing before them was a veritable mountain of basketballs, a lone hand sticking out from underneath.</p><p>Himari’s eyes widened. “H-hyaa! Th-there’s someone under there…” Even so, she took the initiative, pulling off ball after ball, desperate to see her own face again. And under it was…</p><p>“Moca.” Tomoe said. Nothing else needed to be said. The five looked over the face of Moca Aoba, eyes half open, body covered in bruises, limbs broken in several places after being crushed by basketballs.</p><p>They floated in silence for a few seconds, before Tsugumi spoke again. “…Moca. Maybe, um, you should perhaps…’get back in’?”</p><p>Moca shook a little, her tongue flapping. The sight of her own battered corpse was enough to silence even her. “Well, okay then. Here I go, back to a life of broken bones, to call an ambulance with my shattered fingers…” She floated down, passing into her prone form. Her friends held their non-existent breath.</p><p>“...”</p><p>“...I don’t feel terribly alive yet. Who knew broken bones don’t actually hurt at all?” Her spectral tongue wiggled, protruding through her corpse’s chest.</p><p>“...It’s not working.” Ran said flatly. “Which means…”</p><p>“Which means-” Tsugumi held Ran and Himari firmly, making sure they didn’t panic again. “-we still have room to figure something out.”</p><p>“A-actually…” Himari leaned down, picking up one of the discarded basketballs. “…I noticed something.” She dropped the ball, dribbling it awkwardly a few times before it rolled away. “N-notice something? I could touch that just fine, I think we all can.” To emphasize her point, she floated downwards, the edges of her sheet pooling on the ground. “We can actually touch things…hehe, Himari-chan is pretty smart, huh?” A satisfied smile formed on her pink face, her mind seemingly unconcerned about their situation for a moment.</p><p>“Huh. That is pretty clever, Himari.” Tomoe smiled back. “No wonder ghosts have to pull doors open and rattle drawers all the time.”</p><p>“Good job, Himari.” Ran’s one eye narrowed in confusion. “But…how does that help us?”</p><p>“A-ahem. Well, you see…” Himari lowered her arm, passing it through Moca’s body.</p><p>Moca chuckled. “Hehe, Himari-chan, that tickles…”</p><p>“...you see, I can’t touch Moca-chan’s body, and it looks like she can’t either.”</p><p>“Right!” Tomoe clenched a ghostly fist. “That means there has to be some kind of trick to it if we’re gonna get back in.”</p><p>“So maybe…” Tsugumi glanced towards the corridor. “We should look for…the rest of us? And figure out what to do…”</p><p>“It’s settled then.” Ran floated towards the door, pulling on it gently. “…Yep, it’s solid. Which means we’re still trapped until we figure out a way back into our bodies, and then out of here for real this time.</p><p>“Right!” Himari rose into the air, flying in a loop. “Let’s give a cheer for our mission to get our bodies back! <em>Ei ei oh~</em>!”</p><p>“<em>Ei ei oh~</em>!”</p>
<hr/><p>The five friends sat in silence in the corridor, their gazes focused on the floor.</p><p>It had been an hour, maybe more. The sun hadn’t come up yet, anyway.</p><p>Maybe it would never come up again.</p><p>They’d found the rest of their bodies.</p><p>Himari had her neck broken by the lid of the music room’s grand piano closing on it, indentations sliced into her face by the strings.</p><p>Tomoe hung where the anatomy model used to be, flesh gouged and blood drained. Her pale skin strained from the hooks.</p><p>Tsugumi laid on the windowsill leading into the student council room, disemboweled by the wicked shards of glass.</p><p>Ran remained on the bottom of the staircase, her head split open. Dark red blood mingled with the highlight in her hair.</p><p>And none of them could “get back in”.</p><p>Even so, Tomoe rose, floating towards the biology room. “I’m gonna try again.”</p><p>“Stop.” Ran grabbed onto her. “It’s useless.” Blue, inky tears ran down her face.</p><p>“...” Tomoe twisted, pulling herself free. “Ran, we have to try something. I’m- we are not just going to stay here and rot.”</p><p>Himari rose as well. “I’m…I’m going too.” Somehow, seeing the dead bodies of her friends…herself, wasn’t too bad. As long as…there was hope.</p><p>“I’ll…stay here.” Tsugumi nodded, easing in next to Ran and Moca, who had stayed silent. She wanted to come back to life, of course. But the notion of waking up with her stomach cut open and her insides spilling out…maybe she could wait another hour or so.</p><p>“We…we’ll come back for you.” And with that, Tomoe and Himari floated down the corridor.</p><p>“...”</p><p>A few minutes passed.</p><p>Moca spoke. “Ran, Tsugu…”</p><p>Tsugu answered, pulling her arms close around Moca and Ran’s soft bodies. “Y-yes, Moca?”</p><p>“Well, I really didn’t want to say it while Tomoe and Himari were around, so…” She leaned in, conspiratorially.</p><p>“...Spit it out.” Ran grumbled.</p><p>“...Haven’t you noticed? Something strange about how we got like this? Maybe I was careless and accidentally spilled balls all over myself…but what about the rest of you? I don’t think you’d throw yourself through a window, Tsugu. Or that Tomoe would hang herself on hooks. Or that Himari would be anywhere near a piano…” Moca muttered.</p><p>“...And I don’t have a habit of falling down stairs either.” Ran squeezed Moca.</p><p>“W-which means that something…” Tsugu’s eyes drooped.</p><p>“...or someone…” Moca nodded.</p><p>Before they could finish the obvious conclusion, a humming filled the air, sunlight emanating from the opposite end of the corridor from where Tomoe and Himari left. Ran turned. “Guys…I think we’re about to find out…”</p><p>“Oh nooooo~” Moca chuckled. “It’s shinigami-san, finally coming to take us…”</p><p>“Er…that is so, but not quite so.” A deep voice emanated from the light. “Dear young souls, divested from life so <em><strong>fleeting</strong></em>, but yet to shuffle off this mortal coil…you dance with the devil, yet your number has yet to come up.” Somehow, a radiant orb of light managed to look sheepish. “This gift of breath I restore to you; I assure you, your lives, and your noble fellowship, will withstand many more years…”</p><p>“She means…we’ll be friends forever?” Tsugu smiled.</p><p>“Er, more or less. Now go! Return to life!”</p><p>And with that, everything went white.</p>
<hr/><p>Tsugumi groaned, her eyes opening. She was in…a bed? With cloth wrapped tightly around her shoulders.</p><p>A mass of blurry, minty green came into view.</p><p>Hina’s voice echoed through her skull. “Ah! Tsugumi! You’re finally awake!” She turned, running to the door. “Onee-chan! Tsugumi’s awaaaake!” A nurse shushed her. “<em>onee-chan,tsugumi’s awaaaaake…</em>”</p><p>Sayo came in in turn, her golden eyes reddened with tears. “T-tsugumi…”</p><p>“Sayo…” Tsugumi moaned, trying to sit up.</p><p>“Ah!” Sayo’s hands rested tenderly on her shoulders. “Tsugumi…please, don’t move. The…staples…are…look, just don’t move your body so much, alright?”</p><p>It did indeed just occur to her that her stomach felt weirdly tight. “What…happened?”</p><p>Sayo exhaled, burying her face in Tsugumi’s chest. “Please…please don’t scare me like that, ever, ever! Again…”</p><p>Hina leaned in. “Well, you see, um…our school’s gym…collapsed, somehow.” She shrugged. “And when the fire department arrived on the scene, they called the ambulance, and you guys were there, and boy, all of you sure got messed up and-”</p><p>“<strong>Hina!</strong>” Sayo snapped. The nurse walked in. Sayo, Hina, and the nurse walked out.</p><p>“-as Sayo was saying.” Yukina continued. “The doctors provided appropriate treatment, and your friends are…intact, Hazawa-san. Ako is with her sister and Uehara-san in…a different ward. They are well. Udagawa-san needed blood transfusions, and they both…need a bit more rest, but. They’re fine.” The moment Ran made the slightest sound from the bed next to Tsugumi, Yukina’s tone changed, softening ever so slightly. “Mitake-san…you had a concussion. Please, don’t move…”</p><p>“Oooooh, so nice of you, Minato…” Moca’s strangled voice issued from her full body cast from the other end of the room. “At least I have Lisa-chi to come and see me…”</p><p>Tsugumi took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Maybe she would sleep a little longer. Already, the night they spent at school, the unanswered questions…seemed to pass away like a bad dream. Her friends were alright, and they could go right back to school when they recovered. Maybe the school would take longer to fix than they would…Tsugumi smiled at that thought.</p><p>Her eyes flew open. Wait, how long had Seta-san been at the door? It sure was strange of her to be <a href="https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/bandori/images/b/b0/A_Fleeting_Performance.png/revision/latest?cb=20180607132348">wearing a dress</a>…and stranger still that she wasn’t drawing attention to herself. To the point that no one from Roselia seemed to notice her…</p><p>Kaoru smiled, giving Tsugumi a wink and putting her finger to her lips to keep her quiet. She adjusted the rose on her lapel and mouthed “TO-MO-E. HI-MA-RI.” before leaving, presumably to check on them as well.</p><p>Tsugumi smiled, shaking her head. Looks like things would soon be back to the same…as always.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sure is nice how close Afterglow and Roselia are,huh?</p><p>And what's up with Kaoru?</p></blockquote></div></div>
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